San Diego @ Houston preview
Minute Maid Park
Last Meeting ( May 8, 2010 ) San Diego 2, Houston 1
The light-hitting Houston Astros have simply been overmatched by a pair of San Diego starting pitchers.
A day after Mat Latos tossed eight shutout innings, Jon Garland followed with seven scoreless frames of his own in the Padres’ 2-1 victory on Saturday.
Houston has managed just six hits in the two losses as they have struggled to get anything going. They finally got off the snide with Geoff Blum’s eighth-inning, pinch-hit single in Saturday’s defeat.
Kevin Correia will get his turn at keeping the Astros’ bats cool as he takes the mound on Sunday looking for the three-game sweep.
Correia has been a pleasant early-season surprise, going 4-2 with a 3.97 ERA and a team-best 30 strikeouts through six starts. He had won four straight before taking the loss in his last outing, despite pitching well.
The right-hander gave up three runs on four hits in a season-high six innings of a 5-2 loss to Colorado.
The Padres’ pitching as a whole has been a large reason for the club’s hot start. San Diego is second in the National League in ERA (2.80) and batting average-against (.226) and sixth in quality starts (16).
The backend of the bullpen has been solid as well, as closer Heath Bell has eight saves in nine chances and has allowed just two runs in 13 innings.
It is little surprise that the Astros haven’t been able to muster any offense in the series as they rank near the bottom of the league in a handful of offensive categories, including average (.228), runs (80) and on-base percentage (.273).
Slugging outfielder Carlos Lee has been particularly absent, batting a disappointing .196 with one home run and nine RBIs through 29 games.
Lance Berkman, who continues to work his way back after starting the season on the disabled list, hasn’t yet found his groove. He owns a .175 average with a pair of homers and seven RBIs.
Hoping that the offense finally can provide some run support is veteran Roy Oswalt, who heads to the hill on Sunday.
Oswalt has been a bright spot for the reeling Astros as he leads the team in wins with two, ERA at 2.48 and strikeouts with 36.
The 32-year-old right-hander took losses in his last two outings despite surrendering just four runs in 14 combined innings, while receiving only two runs of support.
Houston, which has dropped 11 of 12 games, will hit the road for an eight-game road trip following Monday’s off-day.